Warriors play host as Division II men's basketball tournament begins

Saturday

Mar 15, 2014 at 12:01 AM

EAST STROUDSBURG — East Stroudsburg University competes in the Division II men's basketball tournament for the fourth time in five years as the Warriors continue a historic season by hosting the Atlantic Regional this weekend at Koehler Fieldhouse.

GREG KNOWLDEN

EAST STROUDSBURG — East Stroudsburg University competes in the Division II men's basketball tournament for the fourth time in five years as the Warriors continue a historic season by hosting the Atlantic Regional this weekend at Koehler Fieldhouse.

ESU (28-1), the No. 1 seed, hosts No. 8-seeded Livingstone (21-7) in the first round at 6 p.m. today in the third of four games.

The Warriors are coming off their second PSAC championship in three years, and third in school history, last Sunday at Koehler Fieldhouse.

The second round will be played at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Sunday with the Atlantic Region final slated for 7 p.m. at Koehler Fieldhouse on Tuesday.

The Warriors, who are hosting an NCAA regional and playing a home postseason game for the first time in program history, have an 18-game winning streak at Koehler Fieldhouse, including a 16-0 mark this season.

ESU is in the midst of a historic five-year stretch under 12th-year head coach Jeff Wilson. The Warriors have won two PSAC championships, three PSAC East regular season championships, advanced to four NCAA Division II tournaments and five straight PSAC Final Four's since 2009-10.

ESU's win total (110-38) and winning percentage (.743) the last five years are third in the region behind West Liberty (148-16, .902) and IUP (131-25, .840).

ESU is ranked No. 2 in this week's NABC Division II Coaches Poll, which is separate from the NCAA regional rankings which set the national field. West Liberty is No. 7 and IUP is No. 15.

Livingstone, from Salisbury, N.C., is the CIAA (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) tournament champion and South Division regular-season champion. The Blue Bears are in their second straight NCAA tournament and coming off the first CIAA championship in program history.

Both ESU and Livingstone feature Daktronics All-Region first-team guards in ESU junior Whis Grant and Livingstone senior Mark Thomas, the CIAA Player of the Year.

Grant (16.9 points per game) was named to the first team for the second straight year and was a Daktronics and Division II Bulletin All-American honorable-mention selection as a sophomore, when he was the PSAC East Athlete of the Year.

Thomas is the top scorer in the regional with 20.9 ppg, with teammate Jody Hill, Jr., another senior, averaging 18.4 points per game and making 87 3-pointers this season at a 38.8 percent clip.

Both teams average more than 85 ppg, with ESU 23rd in D-II (291 schools) with 85.6 points per game and Livingstone 24th at 85.5 per game.

ESU leads D-II in turnover margin (+7.7) and ranks third in steals (10.9 per game), with Livingstone also excelling in both categories at +3.6 (23rd) and 8.8 (18th), respectively.

Grant is joined in the ESU backcourt by junior guard Matt Tobin, a first-team All-PSAC East selection who leads all players in this weekend's regional with 6.3 assists per game. Tobin also leads the PSAC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.6) and steals (2.2) and rates fourth on the Warriors with 9.5 ppg.

Forward Rasheed Moore, the PSAC East Freshman of the Year and an All-PSAC East second-team selection, is ESU's second-leading scorer (13.5 ppg) and top rebounder (6.4 rpg).

Sophomore guard Jamal Nwaniemeka, the PSAC tournament MVP, averages 13.2 ppg and scored a career-high 27 to lead ESU to the PSAC title in his first season with the Warriors after transferring from Division-I Rider.

Senior Zechariah Runkle (4.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and junior Lamont Tillery (6.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg) share the power forward spot. Redshirt junior guard Will Brown is the top bench scorer at 8.8 points per game after missing two seasons due to injury.

Livingstone's Thomas and Hill combine for 46 percent of their team's points and 44 percent of its shot attempts entering the regional. Both are threats from the outside, with Hill 15th in D-II with 3.11 made 3-pointers per game (87 in 28 games) and Thomas knocking down 52.

Livingstone has won 11 of its last 13 games since a three-game losing streak in early January.

Both ESU and Livingstone fell in the first round in last year's regional, held at West Liberty.

In other action Saturday:

12 p.m. — No. 3 IUP (23-4), coming off a 67-56 loss to Mercyhurst in the PSAC quarterfinals, faces PSAC East foe West Chester (20-9), which advanced to the PSAC championship game last weekend at Koehler Fieldhouse.

IUP is making its sixth straight NCAA tournament trip and was the last team to win the region before West Liberty's run of three straight regional titles. The Crimson Hawks advanced to the national championship game in 2010, which included a 67-63 win at Koehler Fieldhouse in the PSAC semifinals.

The Crimson Hawks are led by two All-PSAC West first-team selections in senior forward Marcel Souberbielle (15.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and senior guard Mathis Keita (15.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg), who are the Crimson Hawks' top two scorers and rebounders. Junior guard Devante Chance averages 4.4 assists per game.

IUP leads the PSAC and ranks second in D-II in scoring defense (59.1 ppg), while West Chester is second in the PSAC in scoring offense (80.7 ppg).

The Golden Rams are paced by senior guard Troy Hockaday, a first-team All-PSAC East selection, who averages 16.8 points per game, including 24 against ESU in the PSAC championship game on Sunday.

Junior guard Cory Blake (12.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg) was named to the All-PSAC East second team, and senior guard Shannon Givens contributes 12.0 points and a team-high 3.2 assists per game.

2:30 p.m. — No. 2 West Liberty (26-3), the three-time regional champion, faces No. 7 Glenville State (18-10) in the third meeting between the Mountain East foes this season.

West Liberty topped Glenville, 107-88 and 109-97, in the first two contests. The high-flying Hilltoppers, who have led D-II in scoring in eight of the last nine years (102.9 ppg this season), have topped 100 points in 18 games this year.

No. 4 Charleston beat West Liberty 63-60 for the Mountain East title Sunday in WLU's lowest-scoring game in 10 seasons under head coach Jim Crutchfield, the MEC co-Coach of the Year.

Senior guard Cedrick Harris is the Daktronics Atlantic Region Player of the Year and Mountain East Conference Player of the Year, and junior guard CJ Hester was second-team All-Region and second-team All-Mountain East.

West Liberty ranks second in D-II in turnover margin, third in 3-pointers per game (12.9) and fifth in 3-point percentage (41.5). Each of the seven top scorers have taken at least 75 three-pointers, with Bonifant shooting 54.3 percent (63-for-116) and Hoehn making a team-high 78.

Humphrey was named first-team All-Mountain East, Kesic was named to the second team and head coach Dwaine Osborne was the MEC co-Coach of the Year with West Liberty's Crutchfield in his first season at Charleston, which is in the field for the second time in three years.

Gannon, fourth in D-II in scoring defense (60.4 ppg) and ninth in rebounding margin (+8.8), has a first-team All-Region selection in junior guard Adam Blazek, the PSAC West Athlete of the Year.

Head coach John T. Reilly, the PSAC West Coach of the Year, has guided Gannon to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in nine years. He took the Golden Knights to the regional title and the Elite Eight in 2009.